NanoFerronics-2008

International workshop on Nanoferronics:
"Novel multifunctional metal-oxide tunnel-junctions relevant for future devices"

NanoFerronics-2008

October 9th - 10th 2008
IBIS Normaluhr Aachen, Germany

In the past years, magnetoelectronics and spintronics emerged as a very active and promising field of exploratory research and developed as a new paradigm of nanoelectronics. One of the success stories was the development of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratios, the break-through being achieved in 2004 with room-temperature TMR values of about 230% in MgO-based junctions.

Today, we are at a turning point into a new field: replacing the simple MgO magnetic tunneljunctions by hysteretic oxides, which display a rich variety of physical phenomena including magnetism, piezoelectriciity, ferroelectricity, multiferroicity and superconductivity. To designate this novel research programme we introduced the acronym nanoferronics for spin transport electronics through multifunctional (multiferroic) tunnel junctions. The motivation for the proposed workshop is to discuss, explore and trigger the next steps in the field.

Last December, the prestigious scientific journal Science, classified recent advances on multiferroics and oxide interfaces as one of the 10 breakthroughs of the year! It is easy to see why the oxide junctions attract so much attention by considering just one example. In the past year, in several experiments conducted on the interface between two insulators, SrTiO3 (STO) and LaAlO3 (LAO), this interface was found to exhibit a whole spectrum of different behaviors, ranging from magnetism to superconductivity or to metal-insulator transition. The mentioned investigations at LAO/STO interface are just an example, and they result from sustained progress in the growth of complex oxides thin films using advanced deposition techniques during the past two decades. Combined with sophisticated real time in-situ monitoring of surface and structural properties, this opened new avenues to engineer complex oxides interfaces, heterostructures and devices at the atomic scale level.

The novelty of oxide junctions invites discussions along several directions. These include: the theoretical description and the experimental analysis of the chemical, structural, magnetic, ferroelectric and electronic complexity of the hysteretic oxides, their interfaces and junctions, including discussion of

• tools beyond the standard Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) such as exact exchange (EXX), many-body perturbation theory in the GW approximation and dynamical mean field theory (DMFT)
• the dependence of the oxide properties on the film thickness
• the control and manipulation of the spin-dependent quantum transport through the tunnel junctions e.g. by external magnetic or electrical fields
• ithe switching and the domain-wall motion of the magnetization and the ferroelectric polarization as relevant for reading and writing of information.

For further information please contact one of the organizers:

• Dr. Marjana Ležaić
  Forschungszentrum Jülich, IFF- I
  D-52425 Jülich, Germany
  Phone: +49 2461 61 5369
  Fax: +49 2461 61 2850
  E-mail: M.Lezaic@fz-juelich.de

• Dr. Silvia Picozzi
  CNR-INFM CASTI Regional Lab.
  I-67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy
  Phone: +39-0862-433019
  Fax: +39-0862-433033
  E-mail: silvia.picozzi@aquila.infn.it

• Prof. Dr. Stefan Blügel
  Forschungszentrum Jülich, IFF- I
  D-52425 Jülich, Germany
  Phone: +49 2461 61 4249
  Fax: +49 2461 61 2850
  E-mail: S.Bluegel@fz-juelich.de

• Priv. Doz. Hermann Kohlstedt
  Forschungszentrum Jülich, IFF- IEM
  D-52425 Jülich, Germany
  Phone: +49 2461 61 2994
  Fax: +49 2461 61 2550
  E-mail: H.H.Kohlstedt@fz-juelich.de